The Faux Queen Pageant Part 3

Next thing I knew Heklina was calling my name and the back stage crew were encouraging me forward.

I proudly paraded the gumnut baby to lady couture which I had made myself from scratch and carried in my suitcase all the way from Perth to San Francisco. Despite the fact that I did not know anyone in the crowd, they still cheered loudly for me and laughed at the jokes in my intro. My secret fear of being booed off the stage was well and truly dissolved. Now I was feeling confident and fierce; ready to change into my talent portion couture and take on the audience with my main number.

I had a quick costume change as the other fauxs paraded their couture in the fashion walk. I was suddenly covered in pink sequins and zebra print silk for my waitress character working at The Cliché Mexican Grill.

Leading up to the pageant, it was the main number that I was most nervous about. I hoped that people would understand the sketch-comedy style of my act, which was inspired by Australian TV shows such as Fast Forward and The Comedy Company. I hoped the audience would understand that I was making fun of the way that international foods are appropriated by mass chains which place emphasis of stereotypical and sometimes culturally inappropriate representations of people.

I’m not sure all of that was clearly communicated, but I think that in generally the piece was received positively. I’m always my own worst critic, so I could pick things apart to the point where I convince myself never to get on stage again. I’m not going to do that and instead focus on what an amazing adrenalin rush it was to perform in front of a 200+ crowd for my first time in drag. I had one of the best times of my entire life and I can’t thank Bea Dazzler enough for encouraging me to enter.

A vimeo clip of my video introduction to Cliché Mexican Grill will be added to this page when I get home to Australia. Stay tuned